HOA horrors?

[andyvh1959]

My wife and I were discussing our next/final home, planning about five years out. I said one thing I will not consider is any home in a HOA. I read too many reports of power hungry HOA boards maintaining their fifedoms to make everyone conform, or pay. Or worse, suffer a lien placed on your property. My wife said HOAs provide lawn care, snow removal, etc. I said I'd happily hire that out to providers of my choice. Also, being a garage buff has me concerned of all sorts of restrictions on how I use my property aside from city codes and regulations. Am I just narrow minded about HOAs or are the horrors real?

 

[mike93lx]

 

[loganb]

I'm in an HOA...it's not bad

Where I am(Omaha NE metro), HOA was a tool of the developer in the early 2000's to improve the financial prospects of the development, so they did it. State law limits their ability (can't lien for covenant violations etc) and there are really only 2 covenants/restrictions I don't like...but all in all its acceptable. Dues are $250 a year and most of which goes to common area upkeep, maintenance etc. I wouldn't mind there not being an HOA, but some sort of entity still needs to maintain the community areas and pond etc

We initially said hell no to any HOA when we were looking 5 yrs ago, but the vast majority of the houses that fit our needs were in them...so we had to educate ourselves about the realities of HOA's here in Nebraska and in the area we were looking and if they fit with the horror story narrative or not. I've considered running for the board but they've had good candidates and good members so didnt feel the need. May help our neighborhood is small-ish at about 180 or 190 lots

I will add there was at least 1 neighborhood we stopped looking at due to the restrictions limiting the number of cars that could park in the driveway overnight. Not sure if it was enforced...but no way was I agreeing to a rule limiting me to an average or 1 car a night in the driveway

 

[kaymccampbell]

If you consider your house as just a sleeping box, and you want no personalization, but desire conformity, then a HOA is for you. Some go so far as to define your interior colors and furnishings. Others are less restrictive. But all may change in either direction at any time based on the whims of the board. I've heard that roughly 10 million people live in HOAs.

 

[Nodakdad]

Not a snow ball chance I would let a HOA tell me what I can or can't do with my house.
I let my wife do that

 

[Mr.zippy]

I tried to buy a car from a lady living in a HOA. I parked in front of her home to look at it, and she was absolutely frantic because my car was parked in front, and against HOA rules. I was told to park outside the HOA boundaries, and walk back in. I just left. I was shocked at how terrified she was of getting in trouble.

 

[gatewaysysop]

But all may change in either direction at any time based on the whims of the board.

This, right here, is probably the biggest concern I have and why wifey and I are both in the same camp as the Op.

Even if everything else on our list was ticked, HOAs are a solid and non-negotiable "pass" for us. I am sure some of them are fine, maybe even great, and yes for those wondering (or itching to troll), we have lived in them before. That said, our next place will be our last and one thing we will never worry about is whether the HOA board will get overrun with folks that have vastly different opinions about how we should live in and enjoy our property.

 

[PugetDude]

Educate yourself on HOA laws in your state; they vary widely. A lot of how HOA's are governed depends on your neighbors and their expectations regarding the HOA. By-Laws and CCR's generally define the HOA's responsibilities and govern how any changes are implemented. It's really very simple- can you live with the guidelines or can't you? If you can, great; if not don't buy into the community and expect to be able to do whatever you want to do. Problems occur when people contractually agree to one thing and then breach that contract and cry foul over the blowback.
I live in a small (47 lots) HOA governed custom home community. We went into it with our eyes wide open. All in all it's been good., had a stinker ******** on the Board for a while, but he was voted off the island and things settled down. We call the new Board "The anti- HOA HOA" No one is on a power trip and we all understand that first and foremost we're a community. We also use an outside management company to avoid neighbor to neighbor conflicts.
It might not be typical of most HOA's but our only community assets are our entry gates, roads, and open space. No pools, golf courses, playgrounds, etc. to maintain or argue over.
I like how our HOA has enhanced and maintained our property values, they have risen significantly faster than in the surrounding communities that aren't HOA- governed. Our county is a mishmash of zoning in unincorporated areas, not uncommon to see a single-wide trailer on cinder blocks surrounded by derelict vehicles and a million dollar + mansion on adjoining acreages. Thanks, I will pass on that possibility- been in that situation once and lost my *** on resale value getting out of it.
Overall my experience with HOA;s has been positive. YMMV.

 

[ToolPolisher]

Sounds like I'm in a similar situation to PugentDude with similar experiences. The HOA dues take care of communal spaces, the private roads, light landscaping (mowing the front lawns) and have helped increase property values beyond adjacent neighborhoods. The HOA is a group of home OWNERS in your neighborhood and because people are people and not all neighbors are good neighbors you can have a good or bad HOA group. It could be the nosiest of neighbors always in your business, or it could be a group of like-minded individuals who set the rules of "don't be the one to bring property values down."

To everyone who says they'll never live in an HOA community I'll say this:

My HOA president helped me find a contractor for my garage expansion.

So, any HOA is really a reflection of the neighbors you're going to surround yourself with. Choose carefully.

 

[Dig Doug]

Hell NO !

after drinking a 12 pack and zipping around the neighborhood on a Dirt Bike … I sure don’t want a Love Letter in the mail the following week !


lol


Really depends on the HOA and the Board …

but
all kidding aside NOPE !
not for me

 

[rharman]

@PugetDude pretty much nailed it. You HAVE to read and understand the CC&R's prior to purchase. That's the bible of what they can & can't do.

 

[jack stand]

Hmm, paying an annual fee to hand over more of your property rights to a variable group of strangers who chances are on a power trip? There's enough of that from the other layers of those idiots in the town, city, state and federal levels.
I like @kaymccampbell 's analysis:

"If you consider your house as just a sleeping box, and you want no personalization, but desire conformity, then a HOA is for you."

 

[NakeDiesel]

My experience with an HOA was when I was renting a house when I lived in South Carolina in the Summerville area. I kept my yard up, but got tickets because one of the rear wheels of my dually were 1" off the concrete drive. The people across the road from me, parked all over their damned yard and had tracks from parking in the front yard and side yard, never got a ticket from them. All the houses looked identical. Couldn't have anything in the back yard because it wasn't fenced in, etc..

I'm very happy on my 120 acres in the middle of nowhere OK with my nearest neighbor a 1/4 mile away with my shooting range in the back yard...

 

[gmcgeo]

I lived in an HOA in AZ, got sited for my trash can sitting out at the curb a couple times. Mind you this was trash day every time.
Trash guy picks up the trash when i put it out in the morning, i leave for work before they get there. I get a note on my door when i get home saying the trash can can not sit out all day..... i get home at 5 and put it away every week.

Then got sited for an older car sitting in the driveway not registered. I was restoring it, but was not aloud in the open front area.

Also sited for a Lowes 5 gallon bucket near my door i forgot to bring in after washing my truck.

All were like fixit tickets, says you have 24 hours to resolve.

I will never live in HOA again.

 

[Tchicken]

Depends on the terms of your HOA and the individuals you elect to serve on the Board. What always gets me is the trashy people who buy in and at closing agree to the terms of the HOA, then decide they want to do whatever they please.

 

[liliysdad]

I don’t even like code enforcement.

 

[Firebrick43]

I live in the best HOA in the world.

My addition was supposed to be six 10 acre horse properties with covenants and an HOA.

Because of the distance from lafayette, 25 miles, it was just to far and probably the lack of a multi color stop light in the country turned people off.

So my house and barn is the only one that was built and the rest was sold back to become farm fields again.

Some times I don't get along with the other two members but I work it out with myself and me.

 

[TRLKC]

My advise, tread cautiously, if you do, read and understand the by-laws that will govern you. Unfortunately, the big unknown is the people that will. While great folks might be in charge now, the next "********" might be just around the corner.

We lived in a very nice community in S. Florida with an HOA. I was nice and when we bought our new home the contractor was still in control of the HOA. The problems started when the community was built out and the HOA was turned over to the residents. Then the "stinker, ********" (I don't think I can really say what he was here) began his rain of horror over the "fifedom" he'd concord! Okay, that was for dramatic effect. But this fella from a city who's moniker is the forbidden fruit would walk the neighborhood with his ruler measuring grass length or looking for a patch of dead grass or for any dirt discoloration on barrel tile roofs, cars with part of their tire off the driveway, any type of commercial vehicle (your 1/2 ton work truck or van with you name on the side), boats, nope can't have them either, and don't even think about ANY modification, addition, or landscaping without the King and his court's approval (and that's after you got approval from the city and county). If you didn't rectify an "issue" in 30-days he'd slap a lien on your home and there'd be additional fees to cover the attorney fees associated with filing the lien.

Now, thankfully, I never faced the full wrath of the cabal. But I got a nasty-gram or two. Worst part for me was the leader of the pack lived right across the street from me. We kept our boat at an offsite storage facility at quite a cost. That was okay because I knew that was the deal going in. BUT when we were going to take it out or when we came back, I'd want to stop at the house to load and unload dive and/or fishing gear. I'd no sooner get out of the truck and he'd be walking over to tell me I couldn't park there! NO S_IT SHERLOCK! I'd calmly explain EVERY TIME that I'd only be there 10 minutes then I'd be gone.

After 10 years, we sold and my wife and I agreed we'd NEVER buy another home with an HOA. The comments above are correct, it's about the people. But, that's the one thing it can be difficult to control. You can try to vote them off the island but there are often clicks and in my case 5 of the Kings relatives with all their friends living in the community. All of whom you can be assured never got a nasty-gram. I prefer a private home after a lot of research on the community and neighborhood. No one wants a King or a neighbor with 16 vehicles on blocks in the front yard . . . although, this is Garage Journal!

YMMV

 

[Notgrownup]

We recently looked at a 2 acre lot and there was a mild HOA rule stack. We still opted to pass on it when it said you couldn’t have a shop in the backyard. Hardpass…

 

[CV428]

I have lived in two neighborhoods with HOAs. I don't anymore. Here's my story:

1) Very shortly after I moved in at my first house, I kept finding dead animal carcasses on my front lawn. Flattened rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, possums, stuff that the local population would usually eat but somehow wound up on my lawn. This resulted in my first HOA warning letter. One day I took off from work and waited for a furniture delivery, and I happened to catch a neighbor (that I hadn't yet met, I had just moved in and didn't meet anyone due to my horrible work schedule) scraping up roadkill with a pitchfork and lobbing it into my yard. I waited until he went in his house, went out, picked up the carcass and shoved it in his mailbox. Didn't have that problem anymore. Found out years later he was feuding with the former owners.

2) Back when I lived alone, I used to go on lengthy business trips. I got back from a 4-week trip to find a mailbox full of fines for "parking on the lawn." $50 each. The license plate on the fine wasn't mine, so some goomba was parking on my lawn while I was away. Phone calls didn't work, so I wrote "deceased" on the fines and shoved them in the resident HOA snitch's mailbox

3) Got up on a Sunday morning and heard noises in my back yard. The resident HOA snitch (angry elderly woman) was in my back yard with a clip board and digital camera. I went out back, asked if I could help her. "I'm allowed to be here, I'm with the HOA. Go back in your home" A verbal argument ensued, and she didn't leave until I said I was going to physically remove her from the property (using a wheelbarrow). I got a fine in the mail for altering runoff water flow. The poor grading when the crappy neighborhood was built caused the hill to erode and changed direction up against my foundation. I fixed it, which resulted in my neighbors yards not being turned to red clay mud every time it rained, so I got fined. Fought that one too

4) I went to use the neighborhood pool with my RFID key card. One of the HOA gremlins was in the pool area, ran up and slammed the gate shut in front of me, accused me of "duplicating keys" and threatened to call the police since I "wasn't a familiar face." Lady, there's 300 crappily built houses in this crappy neighborhood, and you expect to memorize every face? She called some other pot-bellied goblin, who showed up in a gawk-cart and demanded to see my driver's license to prove my residence there. Meanwhile, mini-vans filled with kids were entering the parking area from outside the neighborhood and going in through the other gate.

5) Neighborhood drunks kept driving across my lawn, destroying my mailbox and flower beds. I got a few fines in the mail for "unsightly appearance" when I could not get to repairing it quickly (especially if I was on a business trip). I got sick of this, so I bought some landscape timbers and 10" gutter spikes, made spike-strips and buried them under the mulch. Not long after, some drunk drove through, picked up the spikes, annihilated his fender, shredded multiple lawns, and crashed into the transformer box up the road. He got arrested. Police asked me about my "spike strip" and I told them it was just landscaping timbers to hold my mulch in place (technically true). I got a fine in the mail for "unsightly appearance" again.

6) I got a fine in the mail for "unsightly appearance" of "uncut grass." It was ornamental grass along a steep hill between properties, and it wasn't even on my property. The HOA gremlin had to come out to "assess" the property line. When she realized I was right, she said nothing and just left.

And I saved the best for last...

7) I got a bizarre letter in the mail stating that the neighborhood needed to be on the lookout for mischievous behavior. Apparently a few people went out to their cars in the morning to find pizza boxes filled with human ***** matter, and more ***** matter was smeared on windows and door handles. The letter went into bizarre detail on how one resident "analyzed" the ***** matter and confirmed it was human and not animal. They blamed it on one "young man in a grey sweatshirt," but nobody questioned how one "young man" could produce such a volume of ****. It had to have been a whole gang of phantom crappers.

I called a realtor within 24 hours. The ONLY HOA I would ever consider being a part of would be a gated beach community.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

1. When I lived outside Washington DC in Maryland, we lived in a very nice, safe neighborhood with 1 or 2 acre lots - granted, we paid dearly for it. It had a laid back HOA - purely complaint driven, which I am unaware of any problems. I actually liked it - it kept the neighborhood looking nice and because of that the property value did very well.

For a period of time I had a 30' trailer boat that I kept in the water but stored in my backyard on a trailer after talking with my one neighbor that had a clear view of it. It was visible from the road only if you were looking for it. Although that was strictly against the HOA rules, I never had a problem.

Me and a neighbor always said if it became a PIA, he and I would run for president and vice president and our platform would be "Elect us, we won't do ****". lol

2. When I retired I bought my Dad's estate. 15 acres out in the country, well outside any city or village limits. I couldn't get a building permit or a construction inspection if I wanted one - not only are they not required, there is no process or protocol to apply for one if I wanted to. I can and have done pretty much whatever I want out here.

3. My sister lived in a gated water community in Florida. Went down there for a week, every morning someone came by on a golf cart looking for open garage doors, trash cans, etc. They gave my sister a warning because my F250 stuck out of her driveway a few inches too far. F*CK THAT! I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

 

[TRLKC]

I have lived in two neighborhoods with HOAs. I don't anymore. Here's my story:

1) Very shortly after I moved in at my first house, I kept finding dead animal carcasses on my front lawn. Flattened rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, possums, stuff that the local population would usually eat but somehow wound up on my lawn. This resulted in my first HOA warning letter. One day I took off from work and waited for a furniture delivery, and I happened to catch a neighbor (that I hadn't yet met, I had just moved in and didn't meet anyone due to my horrible work schedule) scraping up roadkill with a pitchfork and lobbing it into my yard. I waited until he went in his house, went out, picked up the carcass and shoved it in his mailbox. Didn't have that problem anymore. Found out years later he was feuding with the former owners.

2) Back when I lived alone, I used to go on lengthy business trips. I got back from a 4-week trip to find a mailbox full of fines for "parking on the lawn." $50 each. The license plate on the fine wasn't mine, so some goomba was parking on my lawn while I was away. Phone calls didn't work, so I wrote "deceased" on the fines and shoved them in the resident HOA snitch's mailbox

3) Got up on a Sunday morning and heard noises in my back yard. The resident HOA snitch (angry elderly woman) was in my back yard with a clip board and digital camera. I went out back, asked if I could help her. "I'm allowed to be here, I'm with the HOA. Go back in your home" A verbal argument ensued, and she didn't leave until I said I was going to physically remove her from the property (using a wheelbarrow). I got a fine in the mail for altering runoff water flow. The poor grading when the crappy neighborhood was built caused the hill to erode and changed direction up against my foundation. I fixed it, which resulted in my neighbors yards not being turned to red clay mud every time it rained, so I got fined. Fought that one too

4) I went to use the neighborhood pool with my RFID key card. One of the HOA gremlins was in the pool area, ran up and slammed the gate shut in front of me, accused me of "duplicating keys" and threatened to call the police since I "wasn't a familiar face." Lady, there's 300 crappily built houses in this crappy neighborhood, and you expect to memorize every face? She called some other pot-bellied goblin, who showed up in a gawk-cart and demanded to see my driver's license to prove my residence there. Meanwhile, mini-vans filled with kids were entering the parking area from outside the neighborhood and going in through the other gate.

5) Neighborhood drunks kept driving across my lawn, destroying my mailbox and flower beds. I got a few fines in the mail for "unsightly appearance" when I could not get to repairing it quickly (especially if I was on a business trip). I got sick of this, so I bought some landscape timbers and 10" gutter spikes, made spike-strips and buried them under the mulch. Not long after, some drunk drove through, picked up the spikes, annihilated his fender, shredded multiple lawns, and crashed into the transformer box up the road. He got arrested. Police asked me about my "spike strip" and I told them it was just landscaping timbers to hold my mulch in place (technically true). I got a fine in the mail for "unsightly appearance" again.

6) I got a fine in the mail for "unsightly appearance" of "uncut grass." It was ornamental grass along a steep hill between properties, and it wasn't even on my property. The HOA gremlin had to come out to "assess" the property line. When she realized I was right, she said nothing and just left.

And I saved the best for last...

7) I got a bizarre letter in the mail stating that the neighborhood needed to be on the lookout for mischievous behavior. Apparently a few people went out to their cars in the morning to find pizza boxes filled with human ***** matter, and more ***** matter was smeared on windows and door handles. The letter went into bizarre detail on how one resident "analyzed" the ***** matter and confirmed it was human and not animal. They blamed it on one "young man in a grey sweatshirt," but nobody questioned how one "young man" could produce such a volume of ****. It had to have been a whole gang of phantom crappers.

I called a realtor within 24 hours. The ONLY HOA I would ever consider being a part of would be a gated beach community.

Dang! Those stories take the cake! Funny if they weren't true. Some people are just full up of themselves!

 

[jar944]

I live in a HOA, we have no restrictions and no covenants, and currently no fees. We (through community) tried to dissolve the hoa, but because of the storm water retention pond (owned by the hoa) it was not possible.

Hard to not be in one if you want a newish house (something newer than 1980s)

 

[CraigStu]

One of my old Cobra replica buddies lived in a HOA neighborhood. He was an industrial AC tech for a major company so had a white van for a work truck w/ the company logo on it. He got a set of magnetic signs for the van. They were blank white so he could hide the logo while parked at home. Then he bought a trailer for the car. A nice new aluminum trailer. He parked it behind the house so it couldn't be seen from the road. But it was visible from one neighbor's back yard. He had to build a steel frame metal panel garage to put it in w/ colors that went w/ his house exterior. He put garage doors on both ends so he could pull the trailer w/ his garden tractor, unhitch the trailer, pull the tractor out, and close both doors. He also had to check w/ the HOA when he wanted to paint his front door a color other than white. It was a nice neighborhood w/ everyone on a rolling 1-2 acre lot but I think the board letting power go to their heads sure fits.

 

[mike93lx]

Hard to not be in one if you want a newish house (something newer than 1980s)

QFT.

There were two neighborhoods around Richmond that we could find with 1 acre+ lots and good schools. We landed in one of them.

My house was built in 2003... Definitely a unicorn

 

[CV428]

Dang! Those stories take the cake! Funny if they weren't true. Some people are just full up of themselves!

I promise you, they are all 100% true, not even embellished. I still have a picture of the last letter, I'll see if I can dig it up and post it with names redacted.

All the while, I had family members in other neighborhoods touting how "wonderful" HOAs are. One family member ran for head of their HOA with this attitude, got in, and gave it up after a year. The fee delinquencies lead to underfunding for basic maintenance of common areas and retention pond, so she tried sitting down with the most delinquent households to explain what the fees were used for. They had to put secondary/tertiary liens on homes and felt horrible doing so- even trying to come up with a payment plan to catch up without legal getting involved. While she did ignore most of the covenant nannyisms (colored drapes, mailbox styles, nonsensical stuff like that), she did have to deal with bizarre and blatant non-compliances like junkyards extending into the road, people running "questionable businesses" out of their garages, pop-up pools backwashing chemicals and destroying other people's lawns, malicious-compliance 20' post-apocalyptic fences made from scrapyard materials, etc...

I don't like HOAs, but I understand maintenance costs. I live in a small private neighborhood with lots of acreage between houses, and there is no HOA. There is maintenance we all have to pitch in and do amongst ourselves, and sometimes it costs money. We take turns mowing common areas, fixing grading/drainage. Most of the 3ac retention pond is on my property so I go down and try to keep the streams flowing 1-2 times a year. So, my relative tried explaining this in her neighborhood only to get retaliation against her property. She gave up being on the HOA. Retention pond was clogged up, drainage clogged, roads flooded into people's homes. It's a necessary evil in some places.

 

[Wubicon]

I'm reminded of Rob "Rabbit" Pitts' interpretation of the HOA's rules. You can't build a garage, but you can build a trailer park...

Never Tell A Rabbit No - Rabbit's Used Cars

RUC 171 - Rabbit tested the water with his HOA with either a nice back yard garage or a trailer park...

www.youtube.com

 

[racecougar]

Hard to not be in one if you want a newish house (something newer than 1980s)

QFT.

Agreed, provided you're looking at houses that are in neighborhoods.

 

[ArcReactorKC]

Just to give you a taste of the kind of people that love them an HOA.

My in-laws are planning a move to Florida. They were down there a few weeks ago to look at houses.

Their biggest complaint about every neighborhood they looked at
"People park their boat in their side yards and it's an eye sore"

Now they don't mean in the grass wasting away, no I saw pictures, these are boats on a concrete pad attached to the driveway specifically as a place to park a boat/trailer/etc.

They think people should either fit the boat in their garage or be paying for it to be stored elsewhere. Keeping a boat "in the side yard" is tacky.

Pretty wild complaint to me. Of all the things to ***** about in FLORIDA less than a mile from the ocean they expect to not see boats.

 

[gizardlizard]

Told my real estate agent to find me a piece of property where I can mow my lawn **** naked. F the HOA’s!!!!

 

[jar944]

QFT.

There were two neighborhoods around Richmond that we could find with 1 acre+ lots and good schools. We landed in one of them.

My house was built in 2003... Definitely a unicorn

Neighborhood Is the kicker.

The virginia Subdivided Land Sales Act of 1978 "mandates the formation of a property owners' association when common facilities or property are involved in a subdivision. This association is responsible for managing and maintaining the common areas and is funded through assessments on lot owners."

Makes finding something outside of a hoa really hard.

 

[imagineer]

I destroyed an HOA with a dictionary and simple math.

Our company owns two condo units in a small development not too far from here. The HOA doesn't like us because the folks that stay in the condos are only there M-F, 3 weeks per month. They sued us designating our GM & VP as transients, which is disallowed in their rules.
We beat that by using the dictionary definition of "Transient".

Then they sued again us stating that their rules don't allow anyone to own more than 10% of the units in the complex. Apparently the HOA rule committee can't do basic math, because there are only 9 condo units. Every owner actually owns 11.1%

We countersued for legal expenses (corporate lawyers = about $15k) and won a judgement. The HOA couldn't pay, so we offered a settlement for $0 if they dissolved the HOA and rules.

 

[mike93lx]

Neighborhood Is the kicker.

The virginia Subdivided Land Sales Act of 1978 "mandates the formation of a property owners' association when common facilities or property are involved in a subdivision. This association is responsible for managing and maintaining the common areas and is funded through assessments on lot owners."

Makes finding something outside of a hoa really hard.

We have a voluntary association with dues to maintain the entrance and some houses in the neighborhood have covenants, but mine does not.

It took a bit to get my agent to understand that" no hoa" didn't mean "cheap hoa"

 

[WildBill]

My first experience with one was as a teenager, I had a girlfriend who lived in a neighborhood with one outside of Houston. All million dollar houses. Her mom was terrified of the HOA guy that drove around all day measuring grass and handing out fines for every little thing. My car was more than five years old so I had to park outside of the community and walk in, about 1.5 miles, often in 100F+ temps. They paid something like $200 a month in the 80s for the privilege of being harassed daily about dumb stuff like the garage door being open an inch. No thanks.

 

[Stuart in MN]

This topic always turns into a big s#&t show, between people who like them and people who don't. One thing to consider when commenting on it is that in some parts of the country HOAs are nearly universal, and you would be hard pressed to find a house that isn't in one. So, it's not always a black or white issue.

 

[jack stand]

With the heavy emotional and serious decisions involving in a new place to live, I'd imagine that to someone unfamiliar with Hoa's would not really consider this. As regulated as real estate sales are, perhaps there should be more (required discussion) emphasis on what's going to be demanded of you in regards to your rights, care and use of YOUR PROPERTY.
I can see a buyer never believing that many hoa rules would ever have been dreamed up or existed in controlling their use and enjoyment of this major asset.
I also understand the general standard that originally was probably behind the hoa concept was to preserve the "flavor" of the neighborhood to protect overall home values. As with all "government" organizations, power creep and control is inevitable.

 

[Smilodon]

I thought they were relatively harmless until I got into a pointless battle with mine (at the time). I was trying to comply but the head of the HOA (a retired executive type who missed being the boss) didn't like my attitude or something at some point (not sure what), and nothing I did seemed to please him.

I finally gave up and went to a specialist lawyer. Turns out we were the *second* worst HOA in legal battles. The stories about the *worst* HOA in the area were hair-raising.

I ended up having to repaint my house (again!) to satisfy them. I had made the newbie mistake of not getting signed documents for everything during the original process. The second go-around, I hired a specialist painter who was used to the process and got notarized documents for every step of the painting approval process.

All this for somebody who was trying to do what they wanted the whole time. And I had just moved over for a new job that kept me busy. No shops, noise, parties or other red flags to trigger them. I wasn't even there much.

Fortunately, the house market was strong at the time and we hadn't invested much in the house beyond buying it. So we moved shortly afterwards.

Apparently things weren't that bad until the "executive" gathered proxy votes from other busy professionals in the development (who were too busy to attend HOA meetings) and essentially could vote in whatever he wanted as a result. It was all a hidden issue until you "crossed" him. I wasn't the only victim.

So, it wasn't a problem until it was. It only takes one person. Never, NEVER again. I also fight against city ordinances that try to make the whole town into an HOA.

My state (FL) had an organization that provided recourse for condo owner's group abuses, no recourse or protection for home owner's association issues other than straight to a legal battle. A story that my lawyer talked about at the time was that in big high-dollar HOAs in south Florida (many multi-million dollar homes and large shared facilities) that organized crime was creeping in due to the huge amount of untraceable money involved. A legal protection racket as it were.

 

[LeonardY]

I live in a large COA, Community owners Association. It's slightly different from an HOA. The majority of the homes are single family and the streets are city streets. Not own by the COA. There are are a few condos areas that are governed by HOAs that answer to the COA.

I served on the board for several years. Yes, there were problems. Mostly due to a misunderstanding of what the CC&Rs are.
That's why it's important to have a management company handling the COA or HOA. They are the buffer between homeowners.

Have you ever watched, The Walking Dead? It's not about zombies. It's about how crappy humans treat other humans.

 

[dcg9381]

As others have mentioned if you want a "newer" home, short of building custom on your own land, it's probably going to be in an HOA.

Here are mine:
1) Lived in an HOA, moved my fence forward to hide a ski-boat. HOA made me tear the fence down, citing that it was in front of the "set back". After I tore it down, they approved the fence in the exact same location. They never had any idea of where the set back was. After that I got elected to the board.

2) While on the board, I discovered that about 75% of our HOAs income was spent on "management" and "attorneys". The HOA would spend thousands of dollars sending letters and liening homes that were already in foreclosure. The HOA was in a "2ndary" position the the lender and would never see a dime. It's the attorney that was getting paid. Everything on auto pilot. We could barely afford a cook out for the kids at the end of the year.

3) Our "management company" strongly discouraged the board from talking to neighbors. They'd tell the board stories about getting shot or the "dangers" of approaching community members. I knocked on doors, got the story, if you were behind we put you on a payment plan. If you were out of work, we'd delay your payments (for months) instead of spending $1000 on "attorney letters" that just sunk the home owner more.

I gave up. Spend 300% more, moved non-HOA. I moved to an area with a POA - massive common property (lakefront), pools, gym. About $300/year. The POA exists to manage common property and has no ability to restrict or enforce private property.

Make no mistake there is a massive industry and political influence around attorneys and management companies. Big money. Once an HOA goes in, it's almost impossible to get rid of.

But I do believe if you have a lot of "common property" - amenities - pools or if you're in a condo with shared walls and roofs, some sort of association is necessary.

 

[niget2002]

My parents live in an HOA. There are guidelines on what can be stored on their driveway. They do require grass to be kept neat, but otherwise you can do whatever you want.

The best thing their HOA dues help pay for is their private marina and boat launch. A security guard sits at the boat ramp on weekends and makes sure only neighborhood residents are using the boat ramp. We've only ever had to sit in line behind at most 2-3 people launching in front of us.

They also get a discount on a local boat storage facility.

They've only gotten a letter in the mail once or twice about something they did and both times they were able to easily explain the situation. They've never been charged any type of penalty.

I do not live in a HOA. I do not live in city limits. New neighbors moved in next door a year ago and their house already looks like a junk yard. They celebrated a kid's birthday last month by shooting off fireworks until 2am on a Thursday night.

Every choice has a trade off.

You can also end up with crummy neighbors no matter if you're in an HOA or not. The first house we bought had a neighbor around the corner. The guy lived on a corner lot and was a curmudgeon. Something got him all upset at some point and he called the city about all the trash cans in front of garages. The city ordinance is that you have to keep garage cans either inside the garage or behind the front edge of the house. That weekend a bunch of us were putting in concrete pavers next to our garage to move our cans. He comes walking by and makes some interesting comments to help us all make sure we understood who called code enforcement. 6 months later this guy has his driveway ripped out and a new one poured. I'm not sure who did it, but his driveway somehow ended up with foot prints all over it.